Town Square

Bay Bridge scheduled to reopen Sept. 3 after five-day closure

Top transportation officials voted today to open the new eastern span of the Bay Bridge by Sept. 3, the day after Labor Day. Officials recommended a five-day closure to complete construction of the span from the night of Aug. 28 to the morning of Sept. 3.

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Posted by C. R. Mudgeon
a resident of Danville
on Aug 16, 2013 at 10:38 am

I have heard (but have not attempted to verify) that the primary contractor for the bridge is due a $20 million "on-time completion" bonus if the bridge opens for Labor Day. I hope that if the decision is made to open then, that the decision is based on sound engineering judgement and safety assessments, and not bein accelerated just so that the bonus can be paid (and partly "flowed-back" to various parties....)

Maybe I'm too cynical, but money talks loudly in the halls of government (including agencies and other bodies)....

Regardless of when the new span opens, I think it would be smart to leave the old span standing (even if unconnected) for some period of time, as a sort of fall-back plan. With all of the on-the-fly "fixes" being applied, I wouldn't be in too big of a rush to dismantle the old span, which after all, has been in daily heavy use for 24 years (!) since the Loma Prieta quake.